Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has had an awkward moment in Parliament after forgetting the name of a colleague she was trying to praise.

Government Senators were forced into an absurd filibuster - making random speeches about anything to fill time - on Monday when it became clear the Upper House had no bills before it to debate.

It was the second time in less than two weeks Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government was caught out in an embarrassing Parliamentary blunder, prompting accusations from the Labor opposition that it has no ideas and is not fit to rule.

In the absence of bills to debate, under standing rules Senators had to fill 20-minute slots to pass the time before lunch, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

Queensland Senator James McGrath spoke about the importance of the Australian flag and his favourite TV show; while manager of government business in the Senate Mitch Fifield blamed Labor for frustrating the passage of bills.

Senator McKenzie used the time to praise numerous colleagues in the National party.

Senator McKenzie was then went on to praise the Nationals' candidate for the seat of McEwen in the last election, but had difficulty remembering his name.

Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie referred to Nationals candidate for McEwen James Anderson (pictured) as 'Andrew' and also forgot the town he lives in

'And in the seat of McEwen we ran Andrew... Andrew, Andrew. Andrew. It will come to me.'

Senator McKenzie looked noticeably awkward as she tried to remember his name, but then also went on to forget the name of the town he is from.

'But he runs a stock feed store in ah, in, sorry madam deputy president, a stock feed store in a place starting with 'T' just down from Yea and Seymour,' she said.

Senator McKenzie (pictured) had a fewan awkward moment parliament on Monday morning, when she forgot the name of a colleague she was praising

The Nationals' candidate she was referring to is James Anderson who lives in Tallarook and runs Tallarook Rural Supplies.

The government faced criticism on social media for the filibuster, with many taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations.

'My personal favourite was Senator McKenzie, declaring her praise for a Nationals candidate in McEwan whose name she couldn't even remember,' she said.

On September 1, the Labor opposition wrong-footed MPs by bringing on votes in the Lower House after some government MPs had already left Canberra for the weekend. After that incident, Mr Turnbull said he had 'read the riot act' to members about voting rules.